The client
A large NHS hospital based in London, employing over 8,000 staff and treating more than 1 million patients every year.
The challenge
The Client required a transport solution to ensure critical staff could get to and from hospitals in London over the Christmas and New Year period, when the London transport network ran limited services.
The Client’s existing process for arranging transport was extremely time-consuming. The hospital’s team managers distributed a spreadsheet for all staff to complete with their individual shifts, before submitting this to CMAC who arranged the transport. This was taking up to 4 weeks to collate and the data provided to CMAC was prone to errors such as incorrect timings and addresses.
This process was not only costing the hospital a lot of time and money, but it was also affecting journeys, meaning occasionally staff weren’t getting to work on time. This could therefore hinder patient care.
The solution
CMAC developed a brand-new solution for the Client using its newly launched Smartlink technology, which won a ‘most innovative product’ award in 2022.
This powerful technology empowers hospital staff to book their own transport requirements for all journeys, therefore removing the responsibility from team managers, freeing up a significant amount of time from administration, and reducing errors and therefore cost.
The user-friendly technology enables employees to access a secure web link, issued by their employer, using a mobile device to book transport directly from their home address to work, and back again.
As the hospital has multiple sites, CMAC created Smartlink's for all possible journeys, with staff only able to book to and from the agreed addresses. This protected the hospital from staff booking taxis for personal journeys.
Once transport was requested CMAC’s extensive supply chain network was notified via a seamless API and all travellers received real-time vehicle tracking along with the capability to cancel or amend their ride at any time.
CMAC completed over 1,700 bookings via Smartlinks on behalf of the Client between 24th December 2022 and 1st January 2023.
Ensuring that there is a duty of care to travelling employees is important to the client, CMAC’s 24/7/365 operational centre has complete visibility and management of every booking, ensuring that staff can travel between work and home safely and on time.
All the Smartlink’s had an expiry date to prevent ongoing use once normal public transport timetables resumed.